Sliding door construction



Jan. 29, 1970 R. N. BARTLETT ETAL I 3,490,824

SLIDING DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 10. 1968 Q I LL, L L 60 s: 2 g

INVENTORS Hm P678597 11/ 634872577 ATTORNEYS United states Patent3,490,824 SLIDING DOOR CONSTRUCTION Robert N. Bartlett and William F.Pendergast, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignors to Steelcase, Inc., GrandRapids, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Jan. 10, 1968, Ser. No.696,903 Int. Cl. A47b 63/00 US. Cl. 3l2304 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE This disclosure relates to a cabinet construction for metalfurniture and the like in which sliding door panels of differentthicknesses are interchangeable. The door panels are confined in top andbottom channels. Each panel is supported by grooved wheels which ride onone of three raised parallel ribs in the bottom channel. The wheels areattached to the bottom panels through brackets which position the wheelslaterally of the bottom of the door panels. The back panel wheels aredisposed behind the back panel and ride on the innermost rib. When glasspanels are positioned in the cabinet, the front panel is positionedbehind the supporting wheels which ride on the outermost rib. When metalpanels are used, the wheels supporting the front panel are positionedbehind the front panel and the front panel wheels ride on a central rib.A detachable spacing means is provided in the top channel for each doorpanel type to maintain the panels vertical.

This invention relates to a sliding door cabinet construction. In one ofits aspects, it relates to a cabinet structure containing a pair ofsliding doors comprising an inner and outer door panel, which doorsslide in a bottom channel and a top channel in parallel adjacentrelationship, in which structure the bottom channel contains a pluralityof spaced, raised, parallel ribs extending longitudinally along thechannel, the top channel having door positioning means, and the doorpanels being attached to grooved wheels which are positioned on two ofthe ribs.

In metal cabinets with so called sliding panel doors, the door panelsare usually made from metal or glass. Generally wheels are used in thesystem to permit the doors to move easily on the tracks. Because of thedifferent thicknesses of the different materials and the construction ofthe panels, different constructions are required for each kind of doorso that different kinds of doors are not interchangeable. This meansthat if different kinds of doors are offered in a cabinet, themanufacturer must make different cabinets for each kind of door.

I have now discovered a cabinet construction in Which glass and metaldoors each can be interchanged by using a plurality of raised ribs onwhich ribs the panel wheels ride, and by providing a detachable panelspacing member in the top channel in which the top portion of the panelis positioned.

By various aspects of this invention one or more of the following, orother, objects can be obtained.

It is an object of this invention to provide a cabinet construction forsliding panels in which different kinds of panels are interchangeable.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel cabinetconstruction in which sliding steel and glass panels can be interchangedby the purchaser.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a common doortrack system for various kinds of sliding cabinet doors which aresupported by wheels.

Other aspects, objects, and the several advantages of this invention areapparent to one skilled in the art from a study of this disclosure, thedrawings, and the appended claims.

According to the invention there is provided a cabinet 3,496,324Patented Jan. 20, 1970 construction for sliding panel doors. The paneldoors slide in parallel relationship and adjacent each other. The panelsare supported by wheels and are retained by a bottom channel and a topchannel. At least three raised parallel ribs extend longitudinally alongthe bottom channel. Grooved wheels attached to the door panels ride onat least two of the ribs.

In the cabinet, the bottom shelf is raised above the top of the channeland a front panel extends up above the top portion of the panel wheelson the ribs, thereby providing a recessed bottom channel. Detachablespacer means are provided in the top channel, which is also recessed,for positioning the various kinds of panels.

When glass panels are employed, the front panel is supported by aU-shaped member which is attached to the wheels in such a manner thatthe plane of the glass is positioned laterally of the wheels, and thewheels are positioned on an outside rib. The outer glass panel is spacedbehind the wheels.

When metal panels are employed, the wheels are positioned laterallybehind the panels. The wheels of the front panel are positioned in acentral raised rib and the wheels of the back panel are positioned on aninner raised rib.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bookcase showing one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view through lines IIII of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing a second embodiment of theinvention.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a bookcase having a top panel 2, sidepanels 4, contains a metal shelf 6. The bookcase contains a dependingflange 8, and a base flange 10. A pair of glass door panels 34 and 36slide in parallel relationship to each other across the front of thebookcase.

The panels slide in a top and bottom channel whichare recessed behinddepending flange 8 and base flange 10, respectively. The bottom channelcomprises a lower door channel frame member 12 having an inwardly turnedflange at 14. A track 16 is positioned in the bottom of channel 12 andcan be mechanically attached thereto. The track 16 contains an outerraised rib 18, a central raised rib 20, and an inner raised rib 22.

Attached to the inner portion of the lower door channel 12 is a bottomshelf 24 containing attaching flange 26. The lower door channel 12 ismechanically fastened to the attaching flange 26.

A top frame member 28 is attached to the supporting bracket 30 through ascrew 32 to support the top panel 2. The top frame member 28 is a flatbar having a pair of L-shaped depending flanges 29 at either end forattaching the top panel 2. Recessed below this top panel 2 is the topchannel in which the top portions of the panel slide. The top channelcomprises a panel top spacing member 50 containing a separating flange52 and is attached to the frame through screw 32 and clip 54.

The glass panels 34 and 36 are supported on wheels which ride on theraised ribs. In particular, the outer door panel 34 is positioned inpanel supporting channel 40 and is held against the inside leg of 40 bypanel positioning plates 42. Grooved wheels 48 are attached to the panelsupporting channel 40 and panel positioning plate 42 through an axle pin46. The channel positioning plate 42 is mechanically attached to thepanel supporting channel 40. Bottom portions of the panel supportingchannel 40 are cut away (not shown) to permit the wheels 48 toextendthrough the bottom of the panel supporting channel 40. The innerdoor panel 36 is attached to wheels 48 in the same manner as the outerdoor panel except the 3 wheels are behind the door in the inner doorpanel 36.

As can be seen from FIG. 2 the planes of the panels 34 and 36 are spacedlaterally from the planes of the wheels. The outer panel 34 ispositioned behind or inwardly of the supporting wheels 48 which ride onthe outer raised rib 18. The inner panel 36 is positioned outwardly ofits supporting wheels 48 which ride on inner raised rib 22. The bottomshelf 24 and the inwardly turned flange 14 are positioned above the topof the wheels 48 in the bottom channel thereby providing a recessedchannel so that the wheels are not visible. The inwardly turned flange14 and a lateral wheel covering flange 44 on panel positioning plate 42cover the outer wheels 48 from sight.

Each panel is provided with a bearing channel 38 which can be made ofany suitable plastic or metal material to bear against panel top facingmember 50 and separating flange 52. The panel top facing member 50 has awall 51 which extends outwardly of frame member 28 to maintain the innerpanel 36 vertical.

Reference is now made specifically to FIG. 3 where like numerals areused to describe like parts. In this embodiment, the cabinet structureis the same except for the door panels and the top channel. In thisembodiment, the top channel is formed by a panel top positioning means64 in which an inner wall thereof 65 is positioned against frame member28 and in which a separating flange 66 separates the panels 34a and 36a.The panel top positioning means 64 is attached to the frame through clip54 and through screw 32 at bracket 29.

The metal panels 34a and 36a contain inwardly directed flanges 56 and58, respectively. Each of the panels contains a bearing member 68 at thetop portion thereof to provide a smooth sliding of the door within thetop channel.

The metal door panels 34a and 36a are attached to wheels 48 throughwheel bracket 60 and axle pin 62. In this embodiment, the front doorpanel 34a is spaced outwardly and laterally of its supporting wheel 48which rides on the central raised rib 20. The inner door panel 36a is ofsimilar construction as the outer door panel 34a and the supportingwheels ride on inner raised rib 22. The wheels 48 are attached to theinner door panel 36a in the same manner as the outer door panel 34a.

Locks and handles (not shown) can be provided on either type of doorpanel.

The different kinds of door panels can be readily interchangeable bysimply removing screw 32 and pulling panel top spacing member 54 orpanel top positioning means 64 outwardly until the clip 54 is free fromframe member 28. The downwardly and inwardly extending flanges 29 offrame 28 are positioned at either side of the cabinet. The doors canthen be removed by positioning the door panels in the longitudinalcentral portion of the channels, pushing the top portions of the panelsrearwardly to clear the frame member 28 and lifting the same to removethem. The new panels can then be inserted the same way the other oneswere removed. A different top channel including panel top positioningmeans 64 or panel top spacing member 50 is secured to the framedepending on the type of door being replaced. The panels will then bestraightened and placed on the tracks and fastened into the cabinetstructure by attaching the panel top positioning means to the framethrough screw 32.

Whereas the door panels 34 and 36 of FIG. 2 have been described withreference to glass, it is obvious that other materials such as thickPlexiglas, wood, or other plastics can be employed.

Whereas the panels 34a and 36a of FIG. 3 have been described withreference to metal doors, it is obvious that other materials can beemployed in this type of construction. For example, thin walled plasticdoor panels can be used in place of the metal. The metal can be steel oraluminum or any suitable metal.

Reasonable variation and modification are possible within the scope ofthe foregoing disclosure and the drawings without departing from thespirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. In a cabinet construction having an open front and containing aninner door panel and an outer door panel in said open front, positioningmeans at the top and bottom of said open front for constraining parallelsliding movement of said door panels in closely adjacent relationship,the improvement which comprises:

said positioning means at the bottom of said open front including atleast three spaced raised parallel ridges extending longitudinally alongsaid bottom channel, and each of said door panels having attachedthereto grooved wheels Which ride on one of said raised ribs, and

said positioning means at the top of said open front being easilydetachable from said cabinet,

whereby door panels of different thicknesses, material and constructionare interchangeable in said cabinet without reconstruction of thecabinet by changing said top positioning means.

2. A cabinet construction according to claim 1 wherein the bottom shelfof said cabinet is positioned above the top portion of said wheels and aflange extends upwardly from the bottom of said channel in front of saidcabinet at least as high as said wheels of said panels when said wheelsare positioned on said ribs.

3. A cabinet construction according to claim 1 wherein said door panelsare of glass construction, each panel is supported by a U-shaped memberWhich is attached to said wheels, said Wheels and said glass panels arepositioned between the sides of said U-shaped member, said wheels ofsaid outer panel are positioned on an outer rib in said bottom channel,and said wheels attached to said inner panel are positioned on an innerrib of said bottom channel, said inner glass panel being positionedoutwardly of said supporting wheels on said inner rib, and said outerpanel being positioned inwardly of said supporting wheels on said outerrib.

4. A cabinet construction according to claim 3 wherein spacing means areprovided in said top positioning means to position the top of said innerdoor panel in closely adjacent parallel relationship with said outerpanel.

5. A cabinet construction according to claim 1 wherein said door panelsare of thin metal construction, each panel having an inwardly turnedflange at the sides thereof, each door panel being supported by saidgrooved wheels through inverted U-shaped brackets, said wheels beingpositioned inwardly of each of said door panels, the wheels of saidinner door being positioned on an inner rib of said bottom channel, andsaid wheels of said outer door panel being positioned inwardly of saidouter door and riding on a central rib.

6. A cabinet construction according to claim 1 wherein each door panelis positioned adjacent and laterally offset from its supporting wheels.

7. A sliding door construction comprising a bottom channel; a topchannel spaced vertically above and facing said bottom channel; firstand second longitudinal raised ribs in said bottom channel spacedlaterally of each other within said bottom channel; first and secondsolid panels spaced laterally of each other and positioned within saidbottom channel and said top channel; first grooved wheels on said firstchannel means adapted to ride on said first rib; means attached to saidfirst grooved wheels and to said first solid panel to support said firstsolid panel laterally of said wheels and between said first and secondraised ribs; second grooved wheels on said second raised rib adapted toride on said second rib; means attached to said second grooved Wheelsand to said second solid panel to support said second solid panellaterally of said second grooved wheels and between said first andsecond raised ribs so that said first and second solid panels can slidein adjacent relationship and said Wheels can be concealed from view.

8. A cabinet construction comprising top, side, and bottom panel membersforming an open front cabinet; an inner door panel and an outer doorpanel positioned in sliding, adjacent, parallel, relationship in theopen front portion of said cabinet; a top channel and a bottom channelin which said door panels slide; said bottom channel containing at leasttwo spaced parallel raised ribs extending longitudinally along saidbottom channel, each of said door panels having attached thereto groovedwheels which are positioned on one of said raised ribs; said door panelsare of thin metal construction, each panel having an inwardly turnedflange at the sides thereof, each door panel being supported by saidgrooved wheels through an inverted U-shaped bracket, said grooved wheelsbeing positioned inwardly of and offset from each of said door panels.

9. A sliding door construction comprising a bottom guiding means; a topguiding means spaced vertically above said bottom guiding means; a pairof door panels positioned in said top and bottom guiding means so as toslide in parallel adjacent relationship to each other; track means insaid bottom guiding means; wheel means attached to said door panel andadapted to ride on said track means; said wheel means being attached tosaid door panel such that said wheel means are laterally 011?- set fromsaid door panel whereby said wheel means can be easily concealed fromview.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,561,290 11/1925 Wicke 3121381,907,117 5/1933 Keil 3l2138X 2,118,213 5/1938 Malott 312--138 2,126,1118/1938 Holderle et al. 312138 2,762,675 9/1956 Janows 312304 X 3,307,8953/1967 Renner et a1. 312304 3,389,943 6/1968 Jones et al 312-1383,401,994 9/1968 Diack 312138 3,410,621 11/1968 Schreyer 312304 X JAMEST. MCCALL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 312138

